Gene J. Puskar, Associated Press Penguins coach Eddie Olczyk watches the replay of a goal in a game against the New Jersey Devils. Click photo for larger image. Related Story: Penguins Notebook: Panthers keeping eye on hurricane

Mario Lemieux wants to see the Penguins change a number of things. Quickly.

But their coach isn't one of them.

Lemieux, the Penguins' primary owner and most prominent player, said yesterday that removing Eddie Olczyk as coach is not an option upper management is considering.

"We have confidence in the coaching staff," Lemieux said. "It's the players on the ice who have to do the job. If they don't do the job, it doesn't matter who's leading the ship."

He pointed to the amount of time the Penguins spend short-handed as a major factor in their 0-4-4 start -- "We're taking stupid penalties," he said -- and said he has no misgivings about the tactics Olczyk employs.

"The system we have works well when everybody does their job," Lemieux said.

That hasn't happened yet -- not for 60 minutes, anyway -- and a case could be made that a coach should be held accountable if players don't absorb his message, regardless of how sound it might be. Lemieux, though, sees it differently, at least in this case.

"You can keep telling the players and, if they don't do it, then you have to change the personnel," he said.

Asked if he felt there was a need for the Penguins to make personnel changes now, Lemieux responded, "I'm not sure."

What he is certain of, however, is that the three-game homestand that begins when Florida visits Mellon Arena tonight at 7:38 is hyper-critical for his team.

After facing the Panthers, Atlanta and Carolina, the Penguins will go on a five-game road trip. If they don't win at least a couple of the games at home, they might be able to trim the expense of printing playoff tickets out of their operating budget.

"It's important to get off to a good start [tonight], start winning some games here," Lemieux said.

Right winger Mark Recchi was even more forceful, saying that the Penguins "absolutely" are entering a stretch of must-win games.

"We have to play with an urgency that we haven't seen yet," Recchi said.

Simply seeing Roberto Luongo in the Florida net might be enough to ratchet up their desperation level tonight, because he has matured into one of the world's finest goaltenders.

"He's a great goalie," Lemieux said. "It's going to be a good challenge for us."

	SCOUTING REPORT Matchup: Florida Panthers at Penguins, 7:38 p.m. today, Mellon Arena. TV, radio: OLN, WWSW-FM (94.5). Probable goaltenders: Jocelyn Thibault for Penguins. Roberto Luongo for Panthers. Penguins: Have lost four home games in row against Panthers. ... Thibault, who will make his third consecutive start, owns career record of 12-4, with one tie, against Florida. ... D Ric Jackman has at least one point in five of past seven games. Panthers: Are 1-3 on road, where they will play nine of next 12 games. ... Away power play is third-worst in NHL, with two goals in 28 tries (7.1 percent). ... LW Gary Roberts is scheduled to return after missing five games with strained groin. Hidden stat: Florida has won nine consecutive games against Penguins, longest active streak of any team.

Although the Penguins routinely humbled Luongo when he broke into the league on Long Island -- "My first game against Pittsburgh, they scored nine goals or something," he said -- they haven't gotten much except frustration out of games against him in recent years.

"I like playing in that building, the Igloo," Luongo said. "I enjoy the atmosphere in that arena. I feel comfortable when I play there."

Most visiting players this season have; the Penguins are the only team in the league without a victory on home ice. Or artificial ice, for that matter.

Whether that makes them particularly dangerous or just a welcome respite for opponents is conjecture.

"Obviously, they're going to win, sooner or later," Panthers center Olli Jokinen said. "They have a really strong lineup. If you look at their forwards, they're scary."

Perhaps, but other facets of the Penguins' game -- especially their frequent lapses in discipline and the defensive zone -- have been even more frightening. The Penguins appear to have found some mistakes they really like, and seem intent on repeating them as frequently as possible.

Often, those errors are things Olczyk has brought up repeatedly since training camp began. That would seem to suggest that some players might be tuning him out, although Olczyk said that is "absolutely not" the case.

"In some situations, maybe they're hearing it, but they're not actually listening," Olczyk said.

If those messages don't begin to get through soon -- and translate to more consistent, responsible play -- it's virtually certain that management will be forced to make some sort of high-impact move, whether it's a trade, demotion or firing, to placate ticket-buyers and prevent the season from being lost.

"You can't go on [without winning] forever," Recchi said. "This is a huge three games for us. ... We've got to do something this week. We've got to do it now."